Accomplishments with the slimmest majority:
1. $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, including:
- $400 billion for $1,400 direct payments to most Americans
- $350 billion in aid to state and local governments
- $163 billion for $300 a week in unemployment benefits thru September of 2021
- $109 billion for a temporary expansion of the child tax credit—lifting 50% of children out of poverty
2. $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, including:
- $110 billion to repair roads and bridges
- $65 billion investment in improving the nation’s broadband infrastructure
- $21 billion for environmental cleanup
- $15 billion for zero- and low-emission transportation and a nationwide network of plug-in electric vehicle chargers
3. 3.9 percent unemployment, the first time in half a century that unemployment has dropped below 4 percent in the first year of a presidential term
4. Getting over 500 vaccinations against COVID into Americans
5. Confirming 40 Federal Judges (see below)
This all happened with a 50-50 Senate—Compared to other administrations.
· When FDR was President, Democrats peaked at ~80 percent control of the Senate and the House and were able to pass the New Deal.
· When LBJ was President, Democrats peaked at 68 percent control of the Senate and House.
· When Obama was President, Democrats peaked with 59 percent control of the Senate and the House.
You might be thinking, what about Republicans?
Reagan peaked at 55 percent control of the Senate.
Then there’s Trump. Remember when he tried to repeal Obamacare and McCain gave the notorious thumbs down?
At the time, he had a two seat majority in the Senate.
More during this time than any President since Reagan –(Trump during this same time confirmed 19) and more diversity than any time in the past. 78% are women and 53% are people of color. More come from defense lawyers and civil rights lawyers than any other administration.
Even though the Supreme Court is currently very conservative, the majority of all cases are decided at the lower-level courts.
Lower courts decide 90% of all cases
Appellate courts decide 10% of the cases referred to them.
Supreme Court takes 1% of cases referred to them.
Protections of Democratic principles will be upheld or struck down by the lower Federal courts. These new judges will help keep voting rights, abortion rights, birth control, health care, domestic terrorists held accountable and so many other decisions upheld. Putting judges in place could be the most important role of a President.
It is expected that Biden will put another 100 judges in place in 2022.
Vaccines: “490 million shots in arms … At this time last year: less than 1% of Americans were fully vaccinated. Today: More than 71% of American adults are fully vaccinated.”
- First shot: “At the start of the year: just one-third of adults were eager to get vaccinated. Today, 85% of adults have had their first shot.”
Schools open: When Biden took office, “46% of schools were open. Today, 99% of schools are open.”
Jobs: “The economy added nearly six million jobs this year — the most of any first-year president in history. When POTUS took office, … unemployment was 6.3%. Today it’s 4.2%.”
- “The average number of Americans filing for unemployment over the last four weeks is at its lowest level since 1969. When POTUS took office, over 18 million were receiving unemployment benefits. Today, only 2 million are.”
Child poverty: “Because of the [$1.9 trillion] American Rescue Plan and historic economy recovery, child poverty was cut in half.”
GDP: “Without the ARP, Moody’s estimates 2021 growth at 2.9%. After ARP: On pace for growth of 5-6 percent — best since 1984.”
- “U.S. was only G7 country [U.S., U.K., Canada, Japan, Germany, France and Italy] to surpass pre-pandemic output by Q2 2021 and keep growing. No other G7 country had reached pre-pandemic output by end of 3Q 2021.”
Long-term unemployed: “In President Biden’s first 10 months, long-term unemployment fell by 1.8 million — the greatest drop in long-term unemployment in U.S. history.”
- Reality check: Surging inflation forces people and businesses to adapt.
- Go deeper: Read the memo. … White House: “Significant Supply Chain Progress as the Holidays Draw Near.”